Brad Hand

Aaron Loup faced two or fewer batters in 19 of his 59 outings last year, 19 of 70 the year before that and 16 of 71 in his busiest year in 2014.

Without a traditional one-out, left-handed specialist among last year’s collection of relievers, manager Andy Green was seeking someone with precisely Loup’s set of skills when the Padres took a serious interest in the 31-year-old Louisianan in the weeks leading into camp. Yet Loup was eager to expand his horizons in San Diego.

“I hate getting labeled as a specialist,” said Loup, who signed a $1.2 million deal for 2019 that includes up to $800,000 in incentives. “I've told them if that's what you want me to do I'm completely fine, but...

Related "Brad Hand" Articles

Aaron Loup faced two or fewer batters in 19 of his 59 outings last year, 19 of 70 the year before that and 16 of 71 in his busiest year in 2014.
Without a traditional one-out, left-handed specialist among last year’s collection of relievers, manager Andy...

Francisco Mejia is improving at essentially everything the Padres have asked.
He may even be progressing faster than expected.
But in the words of one critical observer, the 23-year-old catcher with the rocket arm and bat that launches missiles has a...

Kirby Yates averaged 29.1 seconds between pitches in 2018, according to data at fangraphs.com. Among Padres pitchers, only Brad Hand’s glacial, 31-second interval was longer.
Makes sense.
There’s a lot riding on every pitch when you’re trying to close...

Good morning, baseball. You’ve been missed.
Pitchers and catchers report to the Padres’ spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz., today to begin whittling down the 69 players currently on the spring training roster — a full 40-man roster and another 29...

The Padres’ pitchers and catchers will report to the spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz., on Wednesday. To wrap up our position-by-position preview of the roster, we’ll take a look at a strength from last year: the bullpen.
2018 recap
For a third...

Sizing up the Padres’ 40-man roster, from A to Z, heading into the 2019 season:
JOSE CASTILLO
Position(s): Left-handed pitcher2019 Opening Day age: 23Bats/throws: L / LHeight/weight: 6-foot-5 / 246 poundsAcquired: From the Rays in December 2014...

At some point Wednesday, as Andy Green transitions from his third season as Padres manager into everyday dad mode, he’ll look up from a reintroduction to sixth-grade math — maybe factoring equations — as the upstart Oakland Athletics look to slay the...

As Francisco Mejia touched third base, a wide smile erased the stoic look the 22-year-old rookie carried through the first three legs of Sunday’s momentous trip around the bases.
He’d driven in three teammates via the third home run of his young...

The Padres traded away their two most-used relievers on July 19.
Rookie Adam Cimber had pitched 48 1/3 innings. Closer Brad Hand had pitched 44 1/3 innings, plus one in the All-Star game two days earlier.
At the time, the Padres bullpen’s 3.64 ERA was...

Francisco Mejia will be the Padres starting catcher Thursday night, and he wasn’t hiding his excitement.
“It’s a really big moment,” he said a few hours before the game was scheduled to start. “I didn’t always know I was going to be here. … I’m really...

A flurry of roster moves – Brad Hand to the Indians, Jordan Lyles claimed and Phil Hughes DFA’d – has left Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen as both the chief late-inning arms and the elder statesmen of a bullpen filled with rookies and 20-somethings. Both...

The last two years alone, the Padres have traded the likes of Brad Hand, Adam Cimber, Brandon Mauer and Ryan Buchter out of the back of the bullpen. A 19-year-old arm is pushing his way to the top of the organization’s long-term replacement options.
...

Craig Stammen’s plan was to get lost in his routine. During day games, that usually means there’s a putter in the 34-year-old reliever’s hands at some point before on-field stretching. Across the clubhouse, new closer Kirby Yates was “parachuting” into...

As soon as the Padres traded Brad Hand and Adam Cimber on July 19, the phone calls increased.
The ringing slowed but never stopped, and it picked up in recent days.
But General Manager A.J. Preller remained firm and ended up standing pat as the...

Nobody wanted Kirby Yates – Boston’s draft-and-follow prospect out of Kauai High in 2005 – after he blew out his elbow two games into his freshman season at Yavapai College.
The Rays sold his rights for cash considerations after developing him as a...

The Padres added a top prospect to the system via last week’s Brad Hand trade — No. 21 to be exact, according to catcher Francisco Mejia’s standing in MLB.com’s mid-season re-ranking of its top prospects.
The collection of lists — which includes eight...

Clayton Richard has been walking too many batters in recent starts, and it’s the fault of the Navy SEALs.
Last year, Richard learned from a conversation with some SEALs that they minimize the time they train their eyes on a target before pulling the...

The Padres turned a waiver wire claim into a top prospect and may do something similar in the coming weeks.
After that, it might be a while before they benefit from the services of players like Brad Hand and Kirby Yates.
Hand, claimed off waivers in...

The job belongs to Kirby Yates, for as long as he’s here and as long as he’s not needed earlier.
The choice was obvious regarding who will step into the Padres closer role that became vacant when Brad Hand was traded along with reliever Adam Cimber to...

What a perfect time for the Padres to ratchet up the pressure on catcher Austin Hedges.
Right after he decided not to give a darn.
“It’s interesting,” Hedges said Friday of the Padres acquiring highly-touted catching prospect Francisco Mejia in a...